District Trains Teachers to Recognize Gunfire

Local law enforcement agencies help with the training and demonstration, and the guns used are the weapons statistically shown to be more frequently used in active shooter situations.

By Jessica Davis

March 04, 2019

Berkeley County School District in South Carolina offers gunfire recognition/demonstration training for its staff members. The goal of the course is to educate staff and faculty on the sound of gunfire and how to respond.

According to the district, the training course is designed to educate staff and faculty about the sounds of gunfire, and how to distinguish gunshots from sounds like a locker being slammed or a stack of books being dropped.

Local law enforcement agencies help with the training and demonstration, and the guns used are the weapons statistically shown to be more frequently used in active shooter situations.

In the most recent training, law enforcement officers fired guns from three locations in the school while staff listened. After two shots were fired from each gun, officers gave a debrief and shared critical information.

“One of our main goals with a training like this one is to get teachers to think differently,” said Tim Knight, district Director of Safety and Security. “We want to make sure they have a plan. We want them to think outside of the box and make the best decisions they can when in a crisis.”